Ledyard Prevents Windham From Winning 5th Straight Class S Title

WILLIMANTIC — In its first season in Class S, Ledyard dethroned Windham, denying the Whippets their fifth straight Class S wrestling championship at Windham High.

Ledyard finished with 203.5 points. Windham came in second, having trailed Montville before the last bout between Alejandro Ortiz and Jack Pelley of East Windsor in the 113-pound weight class.

"We knew he was tough," coach Patrick Risley said. "We knew that it was going to be a battle to the end. Alejandro [Ortiz] battled until the end and wrestled smart. I'm real happy for him, he deserves it."

Ortiz won the 113 class in an 8-3 decision to give Windham 188 points and second place. This was Ortiz's second straight state title.

Even though Windham did not hold the top spot on the podium, Risley was proud of his team.

Haddam-Killingworth had its their top-four finish in Class S in three years. The Cougars finished fourth with 168 points. H-K's No. 1 seed Grayson Adler, coach Nick Adler's younger brother, won the 160 class by pinning Ledyard's Jacob Millbach 1:30 into the match.

"It feels fantastic [to see Grayson win]," the Cougars coach said. "It's a culmination of years to be able to see him start from nothing and come to this."

Nick did not win the State Open when he was at HK, but he said to see the program become what it is today from what it was when he was there has been very fulfilling.

H-K had three No. 3 seeds in final bouts as well. Matthew Jenkins (132) defeated No. 2 Jarrod Ashe 4-1 in the semifinals before losing to Joel Morth of Montville 16-5 in the final. Jake Frith of H-K was part of a wild 138 weight class in which the Nos. 15, 12, 9 and 3 seeds filled the semis. Frith defeated No. 9 Tavon Simpson (Notre Dame-Fairfield) in a 9-1 decision in his final. Simpson had the biggest upset of the day, pinning Ledyard's top-seeded Theran Vanase 5:05 into the match during the quarterfinals.

H-K's third finalist was David Wyzykowski (182), who lost to the Colonels' Michael Sullivan in an 11-3 decision.

Somers had two champions for the second straight season. Jackson Rheault (195) won for a second time in a rematch of last season's S final against Northwestern's Gabriel Schwartz. Rheault won the decision 12-6.

The Spartans' second champion was Jeff Suschana (152). He won a 3-2 decision against Windham's Luis Torres.

"It's an incredible feeling to know that we have two guys who work that hard for a year and win a state championship," coach Scott Zachary said. "They're great leaders and they deserve this."

According to Zachary, Rheault had been battling illness since the NCCC tournament last weekend and missed practices leading up to states, but it didn't show. Rheault won his first two matches with pins within the first minute and his semifinal bout in just under two.

Arguably the match of the day was the 145 final bout featuring Cooper Flemming of Granby against Sam Kury of Montville. Each came into the match with his only loss coming to the other during the season. Kury won the 5-4 decision, but Flemming fought until the end. At one point, he went into a full split to prevent a takedown.

Granby did have one champion, with Ben Kibby winning a 9-3 decision against Collin Crader (Ledyard).